Hong Kong has a unique role to play as a maritime and financial center after China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Tung Chee Hwa said on December 6.

In his opening address to the SeaTrade Hong Kong Conference held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, Tung said a Goldman Sachs report predicted that trade to and from China "will be doubled in the next six years because of China's accession to WTO."

The figure will be doubled and the shipping requirement could also be doubled because of the trading requirement, Tung said. "It's a huge need," he said.

The same report also predicted that foreign direct investment into China will go from 45 billion US dollars a year to close to 100 billion dollars, Tung said.

He said that 45 billion dollars a year makes China already the second largest recipient of foreign direct investment in the world, a lot of foreign direct investment will enable Hong Kong to play a very unique role as a financial center in Asia.

Besides, the need for legal services, accounting services and other professional services following China's opening up, will also strengthen Hong Kong's position as a financial center, Tung said.

As for Hong Kong's overall economic performance, Tung said the economy had bottomed out in the second quarter of 1999 and in the third quarter there will be a positive growth of 4.5 percent.

"I believe we are now moving out of the bottom, and we're moving up," the chief executive declared.

However, Tung also pointed out many challenges that Hong Kong is facing, including the increasing globalization of the economy, and how Hong Kong can maintain its leading position amongst China's other major cities in areas of infrastructure, human resource provision and international relationship.